Still alive - just!

Just to let you know that the blog isn't dead although I feel it. I appear to have come down with the bubonic plague and so have spent the last week more or less bedridden. I even got sent home from work because my boss thought I was about to cough up a lung. No painting has been done therefore, or even any construction.

I'm hoping to get the next unit for the Neville retinue built so hopefully I'll have something better than hypochondria to report by the end of the week.

A Storm of Arrows

So that's the second Unit for the Percy Retinue done.



These are tabletop standard only, mainly because I could feel my interest and attention flagging. Unit painting really doesn't suit me.



However, taken as a whole, the Percy Retinue so far is looking quite striking:



The other thing is that the Dragonborn cleric is nearly done; the attempt at source lighting really didn't work but the miniature didn't cost me anything so I can feel quite sanguine about it not looking quite right.



On the plus side, the conversion work has helped to balance the oversized head, so I'm happy with that.

I have a few days of half term left (bar a funeral) so if I can get the archers unit for the Nevilles done I will take a well-deserved break from the Wars of the Roses and paint something else before I come back for the billmen and mounted knights.

Now the depressing bit:

The Pledge So far:

Bought: 189
Painted: 42

CRIPES!

Time's Arrow

A busy evening of watching Ripper Street was accompanied by a frenzy of construction:

The headless horde was eventually mustered as the first unit of archers for the Percy/Yorkist retinue. 

Again, the Perry miniatures plastic are a joy to work with. This first lot were built straight off the sprue but I can already begin to picture conversion opportunities that lie therein. 

The sculpts are full of character and produce some interesting poses even without any repositioning:

Another slightly disinterested character in the foreground, perhaps a distaff relation of Sir Stig. 

I'm looking forward to getting these on the painting table but we've had a bereavement today which might cause a little disruption. 

The Nevilles Are Coming

So here's my ersatz Nevilles, first unit thereof:



I still really like Sir Stig.

I'm generally quite happy with them although the photo does show a couple of details that need touching up and shading but I think the white and blue work well together and, more importantly, form a strong contrast with the Percy red and black.





I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's been looking and commenting; I've never been good at Unit painting as I find it rather boring to do the same sort of things over and over again, so having any kind of support is key in slogging through it.

I imagine that after one unit of 12 I'll need to take a break and do something else. Given that I've been watching a lot of Ripper Street that might well take the form of the IHMN Reid and Drake miniatures.

Actual Progress

One of the costs of a largely intellectual job is that it's difficult to see any actual progress. So it's nice to show this:

Yes, that's the first unit for the Neville War of the Roses Retinue. The livery isn't strictly speaking accurate but it is a nice 'generic' Lancastrian scheme and contrasts well with the Percy livery. 

Proper photos will follow tomorrow. 

In other news the Dragonborn Cleric is done and ready for painting. As you can see from last time the cloak has been added to the padded collar and fastened on to the pauldrons. The hammer has been finished and the haft cut down. The final touch - given that he is a Cleric of a storm God - is some lightening flickering around his fist. 

This is the next one for the painting table shortly to be followed by the first unit of Percy longbowmen. 

WiPs - knights and dragons and fires, oh my...

I've been struck down by the Black Death (read: a slight cold) but I'm manfully struggling on with the various items on the workbench. 

First up is the second unit of men at arms, the first for the second retinue. The armour has been shaded and highlighted so no there's just detailing and the livery to do:

The second thing I've been working on the third of our D&D characters, a Dragonborn cleric. We couldn't find a miniature that we liked and the player in question plays WFB so I decided on a cut and shut conversion job. 

The basis is a Perry Foot Knight with a Saurus warrior head. The head is MASSIVE; so out of proportion that I've had to build up the chest and shoulders with greenstuff to help build up the upper body. I've also repositioned the shoulders into a slightly more lizardly joint arrangement and added a neck and a tail. 

Once all this work has set, I'll add a cloak which will finish off making the body look slightly larger. I'll also finish the war hammer - although I'm tempted to texture it as stone just for giggles. 

The last thing I've been doing is the fire pit to finish the 4Ground house; photos of that to follow at the weekend.